James Noticed
by shadowglove
Summary: When it came to Sirius and Remus, James had always been aware of what was going on---even if the two mentioned didn’t. From the very beginning it was terribly obvious, and yet why is he the only one who seems to notice? James POV, implied SBRL, SLASH


**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, otherwise SiriusxRemus and DracoxHermione would be CANNON!!!**

THIS IS SIRIUS x REMUS IMPLIED PRE-SLASH, IF YOU DON't LIKE BOY SLASH DON'T READ. THIS IS ALSO SOMEWHAT AU.

_This is my first Marauders oneshot, so please deal with me if it's odd or something!_

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James noticed.

Sure, he mightn't be the most observant of wizards, but when it came to his best mates he was unusually sharp. And when it came to Sirius and Remus young Master Potter had _always_ been aware of what was going on---even if the two mentioned didn't.

Right from the beginning, that first time on the train to Hogwarts, James had noticed. He'd been a scrawny first year with glasses a little too big for his face, he had yet to understand that girls did _not_ give you the 'cooties', and yet he'd noticed it even then.

Within seconds of meeting Sirius Black on the train the boys decided that they'd become best friends, both eagerly expressing the same interests and ambitions. And James could still remember the moment Remus Lupin boarded the train and passed by them, nose buried deep in a book, ignoring the rest of the world.

The very moment Remus appeared in their line of vision Sirius had paused in the middle of a story he was telling James and his eyes had went wide, landing on the young boy and following him as Remus strolled passed them, completely oblivious to the intense gaze focused solely on him.

"Who is that?" Sirius asked, voice soft and all the smooth confidence he'd shown moments ago completely gone.

James followed his gaze, wondering what was wrong. "I don't know. I haven't seen him before."

Sirius seemed to have forgotten that James existed, watching the blonde until he, still lost in his book, bumped into another student who was dressed all in black. The other boy looked uncomfortable and sorely out of place.

"Sorry." The blonde finally tore his gaze from his book and wide golden eyes rested on the other boy apologetically. "I wasn't looking where I was going. It's my fault."

The other student looked at the blonde suspiciously before he smiled slowly. "That's okay. It's half my fault any way."

The blonde tilted his head slightly and smiled at the dark haired boy.

James tore his gaze from those two and looked at Sirius when he heard a slight growl. He didn't know that that was the moment Sirius Black's hatred of Severus Snape was born.

While Sirius began talking to him again, continuing what he'd been saying, James noticed those gray eyes constantly dart towards where the other two boys had decided to sit next to each other, smiling and laughing friendly about something neither of them could hear.

Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, James was a little confused by Sirius' actions but he didn't dare question the other boy about it. Instead he decided to ignore it and soon they were in Hogwarts, and then they were sorted, and James noticed the smirk that lit up Sirius' face when Severus was sorted into Slytherin and _Remus Lupin_ into Gryffindor with them.

Luck would have it that Remus, alongside a chubby boy named Peter were made Sirius and James' roommates, the four of them getting to know each other that night, sitting on their beds and talking about each other.

From the beginning James noticed two things. Sirius was intent on talking to Remus, and Remus was intent on answering as few questions about himself as humanly possible. The young blonde hugged his pillow to his chest as if it would protect him from Sirius' inquisitive nature, his gaze always on his sheets, golden locks of hair falling into his face and shadowing it, keeping his expression completely hidden from them.

It'd bothered James a little, but he understood that some people were just shy and so he gave Remus the space he needed, instead turning his attention to Peter, who seemed more than happy to share every aspect of his life with them.

Sirius, on the other hand, badgered and badgered until Remus snapped that he was sleepy and closed the curtains around his bed abruptly. The surprise was obvious on Sirius' face as he continued to stare with eyes wide open at the closed curtains before he'd muttered something darkly under his breath and studiously ignored Remus' bed for the rest of the night in a huffy mood.

Things had returned to normal the next day, and as time passed Remus slowly began to open up towards them. Everyone was still curious about his, about the past he was so secretive about, but they learnt not to press him, especially about that sick relative he had to keep visiting every month.

Remus made friends with Lily Evans and kept being friends with Severus even though the other boy was in Slytherin, and the three of them were often seen studying together while Sirius, James and Peter filled up their time with plotting and pranking their way to fame within Hogwarts.

That wasn't to say that Remus didn't help them with the pranks. The blonde boy was extremely cunning and smart, and he came up with an incredible amount of pranks for the others to perform, and every time he laid down the plans James would notice Sirius watching Remus with what seemed to be admiration.

The only times Remus wouldn't help them, wouldn't talk to them, was when he found out that they'd taken up to teasing and taunting Severus, or _Snivellus_, as Sirius had dubbed him. Whenever an issue between them would occur Remus wouldn't speak to them for days, ignoring Sirius' constant pleadings, instead spending the whole day with Evans and Snape.

Of course, he didn't realize that the closer he got to Snape the more Sirius lashed out at the Slytherin.

But James noticed.

In their second year Sirius began to act odd, suspicious. James watched Sirius watch Remus before and after returning from those frequent visits to his relative, and when Sirius finally cornered James and Peter and whispered his suspicions Peter had nearly fainted and James had laughed---until he'd sat down later that night and thought things over, remembering Sirius' soft voice.

'_I think Remus is a werewolf_.'

They hadn't said anything, but waited until the full moon the next month and when Remus' relative got sick on those three nights again and he finally returned, looking bruised and hurt and pale they'd confronted him.

The blonde looked up at them and collapsed on his bed, sobbing.

James, Peter and Sirius had stood by in shock, understanding his answer, realizing what was happening, what had been happening for so long under their very noses. They saw the pain their friend was going through and before James could even move Sirius was suddenly on Remus' bed pulling the sobbing young man into his arms and telling him that everything was going to be alright, that they still loved him, that he was still their mate.

James and Peter had hurriedly reassured their crying friend of the same thing, hurrying to the bed and patting his back awkwardly.

When his sobs had finally subsided, Remus had tilted his head back, hands still clutching the front of Sirius' shirt, and smiled into young Master Black's face, tears shimmering in his eyes. "_Thank you_."

Sirius' eyes widened and for a moment he looked _terrified_ as he looked down at Remus' smiling face before tearing his gaze away and murmuring that it was okay.

Remus then turned his smile to James and Peter, thanking them, never realizing that Sirius had yet to let go of him, or that the other young man was braving another look at him, a faint blush on his cheeks.

But James noticed.

Throughout the next couple of years Sirius, James and Peter worked on a secret project that Sirius had thought of as way to help Remus during the transformations. Since Remus was locked up in the Shrieking Shack with no one to bite the werewolf had taken to biting himself, tearing flesh and muscles from his own body and endangering Remus' life every full moon.

Sirius was terrified that one day the school medi-witch would return with the news that Remus had bled to death during the night, and it was a fear that James and Peter shared. They knew that Remus didn't share with them the true horror of what he had to go through every full moon, but Sirius had taken to studying everything he could about werewolves, and the information _he'd_ shared with them had just engrained the need to do this.

They would become illegal Animagi to be with Remus, to help him…

…Because he was their best mate and he was worth risking Azkaban for—as Sirius had announced right after telling James and Peter of his decision to become an animagus back in second year.

Ever since discovering the truth about Remus Sirius had become somewhat obsessed with knowing all he could about werewolves, and what he couldn't find in the books he shocked everyone _silly_ by reading voluntarily, he would ask Remus. It didn't matter _how_ odd or embarrassing the question he would always find the right time to interrogate the often embarrassed werewolf.

Like in third year, when he'd discovered a topic that seemed to captivate him.

"Come _on_ Rem." Sirius whined, tilting his head slightly, eyes wide and beseeching. "You know you can tell me these kinda things!"

Remus sat on his bed, nose in a book, but anyone could see the blush covering his face. "It's stupid, Sirius. I don't want to talk about this."

"Why _not_?" Sirius continued to whine as he plopped down on the bed next to Remus, tugging on his trouser like a kid whose mother was ignoring him.

"_Because_!" Remus announced, flustered, finally putting down the book and glaring slightly at Sirius. "Its embarrassing!"

"It's not." Sirius protested, turning to look at James. "Tell him it's not, Jamie."

"Don't get me mixed in this." James raised his hand.

"Me neither." Peter squeaked before Sirius could turn to him.

"Pansies, the lot of them." Sirius snorted before returning his attention to Remus. "Come _on _Remmy, _tell_ me about werewolves and their mates."

"Bloody _hell_ Siri, why do you want to know something like that?" Remus looked more and more uncomfortable, unable to look at his friend in his face.

James found that interesting.

"_Because!_" And yet Sirius didn't specify more than that.

Remus sighed, giving in, something he always seemed to do with Sirius. "Okay, I don't know much about this myself, but werewolves are different from humans in the sense that when they pick their mate they are unable to be unfaithful to that partner—likewise the partner is unable to be unfaithful to the werewolf because of some hormones or something in the saliva of the werewolf. This hormone is only secreted during—uh—during the time of, er, _marking_, which, ahm, happens during, eh, _intercourse_."

"During _what_?" Peter made a face, completely lost.

Remus turned redder (if possible) and ducked his gaze. "Sex. When the werewolf marks his mate during _sex_ it seals the bond between the werewolf and the mate, but the mate has to know what's going to happen and be willing, otherwise it'll just be a bite mark that'll fade away with time. A werewolf can't _force_ anyone to be his or her mate."

Peter gawked.

Sirius looked up at Remus in contemplative silence.

James didn't blame either of them, that was both shocking and interesting. "Is there any risk of the person getting bitten turning into a werewolf?"

Sirius sneered. "Jamie, read up your material. You can't get turned if bitten by a werewolf in his or her human form. _Everyone_ knows that."

James raised an eyebrow.

"What if the werewolf's gay?" Noticing the looks _that_ got him, Sirius made a face at everyone. "_What_? It's bound to happen _sometime_!"

"A fruitcake werewolf." Peter sniggered at the thought. "As if the poor bastard wasn't suffering from prejudices as it were."

"Well—actually—it's happened before." Remus had suddenly found the patterns on his bed sheets of immense interest. "It's not exactly something normal though because the need to find a mate and _procreate_ with said mate is one of the strongest impulses in a werewolf---and you can't exactly _procreate_ if your mate is your own gender, you know?"

_Sirius_ now found the patterns on Remus' bed sheets fascinating. "You ever feel that need, Remmy?"

Remus spared Sirius one quick glance before lowering his gaze once more. "No."

He was lying.

James could tell, and if the flash of steel in Sirius' downcast gaze said anything he knew so as well.

"Well, who knows, you might find her here in Hogwarts!" Peter announced happily, oblivious to the tension in the room. "You know all the girls in Ravenclaw are in love with you, and more than a couple in Slytherin."

James scrunched his nose in disgust of the thought of his friend with a _Slytherin_.

"I'm—I'm thinking about asking Tiana Wingfield." Remus whispered, looking oddly melancholic for someone who had just announced he was going to ask a girl out for the first time in his life.

Sirius stiffened.

"The Ravenclaw prefect?" Peter grinned. "She's bloody gorgeous Rem! And she likes you! I overheard her asking Evans the other day if you were single!"

Remus smiled sadly down at the patterns on his bed.

Sirius kept his gaze downwards, his face completely blank, but if anyone looked at him they'd notice the fistfuls of sheet held in his clenched hands.

And since he'd been searching for a reaction, James noticed.

He also noticed how Sirius suddenly began dating the moment Remus and Tiana got together, but unlike Remus Sirius wasn't in a serious relationship, they were more like one night stands. The handsome Gryffindor seemed to be on a mission to sleep with every cute girl in Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, as if trying to prove something to everyone—to _himself_.

James also noticed that the day Remus broke off with Tiana Sirius suddenly decided he needed to take a break with all the womanizing and dedicate some time to just being with his mates.

It became a routine so obvious James couldn't understand how he was the only one who noticed it. Remus would get a girlfriend and Sirius would resume his title as male slut of Hogwarts, and the moment Remus broke it off with the chit because he couldn't 'lie' to her anymore about his 'condition' Sirius would lose all interest in the birds flocking around him and spend all of his time with them, with Remus.

No one seemed to notice anything odd with this.

James noticed it but it wasn't odd anymore, it was _expected_, and by fifth year he realized that somehow he'd become invested in the relationship that _**wasn't**_ between Sirius and Remus. He'd had years to get used to the idea, and now he didn't understand why they didn't see that they obviously liked each other.

It was so _obvious_.

_James_ had noticed it for crying out loud!

It was also by fifth year that they were finally able to become animagi. James had become a stag because he'd always thought the antlers wicked cool, Peter had become a rat in case they ever needed anyone to do some sneaking for them, and Sirius---James wasn't surprised at all when Sirius chose to become a large black _dog_.

Only when they were able to transform did they inform Remus of what they'd been working on these last couple of years, and the werewolf had been shocked, touched, and had broken down crying with gratitude before embracing them all.

"_Thank you_!"

James smiled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Yes, well, the thanks should really be given to Sirius. He _was_ the one with the idea---he was going to do it whether we would or not because he said you were worth risking Azkaban."

Sirius looked at James in horror, but that expression turned to shock when Remus threw himself at the young man and hugged him tightly, burying his face in Sirius' shirt.

"_Thank you Sirius_."

Gulping softly, Sirius seemed frozen for a second before his arms went around the skinnier, shorter boy, drawing him in closer, a slow, shy smile curving his lips. "T-think nothing of it."

"This is the best thing _anyone_ has ever done for me." Remus whispered into Sirius' shirt. "I'll never forget this Sirius, _thank you_!"

"Bloody ponce, you don't have to _cry_!" And yet Sirius' voice was soft and his expression tender and he tightened his hold on the smaller boy and closed his eyes, obviously losing himself in the embrace.

James watched them and smiled.

Their first full moon with Remus was a bittersweet moment. While they were glad that they could now accompany their friend, James, Sirius and Peter had been horrified as they viewed the transformation for the first time, heard Remus' screams of pain, heard his skin ripping open, heard the crunch of bones shifting…

They'd never known that the transformation could be so _horrible_, and James could have _sworn_ he'd seen tears falling down Sirius' cheeks before he'd transformed into his dog self. The stag with the rat riding on his antlers spent the night watching the wolf and dog playing together, wrestling and mock-fighting with glee.

Even Remus' _wolf_ had bonded with Sirius.

That night the wolf didn't harm his own body.

The next morning James smiled at a pale but otherwise healthy looking Remus. The school medi-witch hadn't been able to understand _why_ Remus was so well, but she'd been happy and sent him down to everyone else, who were having breakfast.

"You look good, mate." Sirius grinned, beginning to pile up food onto Remus' plate as the blonde sat.

"This has got to be the best morning after _ever_." Remus whispered the confession with a small smile. "I don't feel like I've been ripped apart and crushed by a mountain." He then smiled and waved at Snape as the Slytherin made his way to his table.

Sirius sent a warning glare in Snape's direction that the Slytherin ignored and smiled back at Remus, sending him a quick wave.

James shook his head at his best mate.

Honestly, he was going to have to get over his jealousy of Remus' friendship with Snape or he'd end up doing something he'd regret.

Taking in a deep breath, James ignored Peter's chatter and instead concentrated on Remus and Sirius, the latter trying to force-feed the former with a piece of buttered bread.

Honestly, they looked like a _couple_ the way Remus scowled and Sirius teased and continued to press the bread against the werewolf's tightly closed lips.

"Come on, do it for papa." Sirius smirked mischievously.

"I _refuse_ to call you--!" Remus' eyes widened and the rest of his sentence was muffled as Sirius took opportunity of the open mouth to stick the bread in. The werewolf glared at Sirius before biting down on the bread reluctantly and beginning to chew. "Prat."

Sirius just grinned.

Peter continued to chatter on.

James watched as Sirius messed Remus' hair affectionately and Remus sighed in resignation although the corners of his lips were twitching suspiciously.

Sighing, James pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

_He_ noticed.

When would _they_?

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**Finished! That was my first Sirius x Remus, even if it was only implied! What did you all think?**


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